Summly
Created by Nick D’Aloisio at age 15, this app to shorten the news into bitesize chunks was sold to Yahoo in 2013 for a reported $30m. Nick now works on the Summly-inspired Yahoo News Digest app, while studying at Oxford University.
Game of War - Fire Age
Think huge app games and Candy Crush or Angry Birds come to mind. But this medieval-style strategy is said to gross $1m a day thanks to in-app purchases. Last year, a reported $3bn valuation was predicted for developer Machine Zone.
Periscope
Twitter’s live-streaming video app offers the chance to watch and broadcast live video across the globe. Unlike Meerkat’s live videos, which disappear after you view them, Periscope saves your video stream.
Instagram
The power to capture a moment in real-time, apply digital “filters” and share it with a network of followers has turned out to be the elixir of visual media apps. Little wonder Facebook snapped Instagram up.
WhatsApp
With more than 800m active users, this cross-platform mobile messaging app allows you to exchange messages minus the SMS bill. The desktop version just arrived on Apple’s OS X.
Nike+
Launched in 2006, this game-changing app spawned thousands of fitness app copycats. The original Nike+ worked with an iPod to track distances travelled and calories burned. Now it’s paired to everything from the Apple Watch to Nike’s own FuelBand.
